Mobile crane with pivotable boom mounted for alternate use as a tower



June 22, 1965 K. E. LINDEIN MOBILE CRANE WITH PIVOTABLE BOOM MOUNTED FOR ALTERIIATE USE AS A TOWER 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 12, 1963 I June 22, 1965 K. LINDEN MOBILE CRANE WITH PIVOTABLE BOOM MOUNTED FOR ALTERNATE USE AS A TOWER 5 Sheets-Sheet 2' Filed June 12, 1963 June 22, 1965 K. E. LlNDE N MOBILE CRANE WITH PIVOTABLE BOOM MOUNTED FOR ALTERNATE'USE AS A TOWER 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed June 12, 1963 I June 22, 1965 K. E. LINDEN 3,190,457

MOBILE CRANE WITH PIVOTABLE BOOM MOUNTED FOR ALTERNATE USE AS A TOWER Filed June 12, 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 June 22, E, L DE MOBILE CRANE WITH PIVOTABLE BOOM MOUNTED FOR ALTERNATE USE AS A TOWER Flled June 12 1963 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 United States Patent 3,190,457 MOBILE CRANE WITH PIVOTABLE BOOM MOUNTED FOR ALTERNATE USE AS A TOWER Knut Elis Lindn, 7 Tallmatargatan, Vasteras, Sweden Filed June 12, 1963, Ser. No. 287,392 Claims priority, application Sweden, June 25, 1962, 7,039/ 62 1 Claim. (Cl. 212-70) This invention relates to mobile hoisting cranes mounted on a vehicle.

More particularly, this invention relates to a mobile crane which is mounted on a vehicle and which comprises a preferably telescopically extendable mast or pole which is in a lowered position is placed horizontally on the vehicle.

One main object of the invention is to provide a crane of said type which while possessing extremely high hoisting capacity can be given a substantially longer mast than has been possible with cranes of this type hitherto known.

Another object of the invention is to provide a crane of the type under consideration the mast of which in spite of its length is adapted in a vertical position to be anchored rigidly in the vehicle.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a crane of the type under consideration the mast of which in its vertical position can be swung out from the vehicle. The crane may then be used either with an arm or jib attached to the mast and projecting therefrom at an angle or be brought to take an inclined position to the vertical so that it may serve without jib as a crane for lifting particularly heavy loads.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a crane of the type under consideration the mast of which in lowered state on the vehicle takes a position with both ends projecting over the ends of the vehicle so that the chassis thereof does not cause any additional prolongation of the total length of the vehicle and the crane during transportation.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification and of which:

FIG. 1 is a side view of the vehicle with a crane mounted thereon and the mast thereof in lowered position.

FIG. 2 shows a portion of FIG. 1 in the same view but in a larger scale.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the crane in elevated position with a jib applied to the mast.

FIG. 4 shows a portion of the vehicle and the crane in the position of FIG. 4 in a larger scale.

FIG. 5 shows the same portion of the vehicle and the mast but with the latter swung out so as to form an angle towards the vertical.

Referring to the drawings, the vehicle is generally denoted by 10. It may generally have the form of a lorry with double pairs of rear wheels 12 and one pair of front wheels 14. On the chassis of the vehicle there are arranged fiaps 16, 18 suitably pivotable about a vertical axis and provided with support members 20, 22 adjustable in the vertical direction and intended to be brought into contact with the ground and thereby to increase the stability of the chassis when the hoisting crane mounted on the vehicle is in an elevated position. In the embodiment illustrated a platform or stage 24 is disposed pivotably about a vertical axis located approximately between the rear wheels 12.

The hoisting crane comprises a mast which may be composed of at least two parts 26, 28 displaceable relatively one another in a telescopic manner. The lower mast part 26 is at a distance from its lower end provided with two pivot pins 30 received in bearings 32 which in the illustrated embodiment are anchored to the pivotable platform 24. The bearings 32 are provided with an opening 34 which may be opened or closed by means of a latch device 36 pivotable by When the mast is in the lowered position shown in FIG. 2 or in the working position according to FIGS. 3 and 4, the pins 30 are enclosed within the stationary bearings.

In the lowered position which the crane occupies during transportation or like conditions the mast 26, 28 extends from the rear part of the lorry forwards past the drivers cab 39 and a support 40 on the front part of the lorry from which it projects for a distance ahead of the hood. Due to the feature that the pins 30 and the bearings 32 are located in a spaced relation to the end of the mast and the rear end of the vehicle, said mast end also will project rearwardly from the chassis of the vehicle. The length of the vehicle with lowered mast is thus determined only by longitudinal dimension of the latter. An arm or jib 38 is articulated onto the upper end of the upper part 28 of the mast and in the lowered position extends rearwardly in a position superimposed to the two mast parts. A second arm 40 is secured to the mast part 28.

Disposed at the lower end of the lower mast part 26 are pulleys 42. Pulleys 44 and winch 46 are mounted on the platform 24. A cable 48 is guided over pulleys 42, 44 and winch 46 so as to give a high mechanical advantage. This winch 46 is driven by an electric motor 49 which gets current from an electric generator (not shown) driven by the internal combustion engine of the lorry. By means of the winch 46 the mast 26, 28 can be elevated from the position shown in FIG. 1 to the position of FIG. 3 by pivotal movement about the pins 30.

The pins 30 are disposed behind the turning axis of the platform 24 for which reason the mast in its elevated position exerts a moment on the bearings of the platform corresponding to the product of the spacing from the said turning axis and the weight of the mast and the lead. On the platform there are arranged powerful counterweights 50 which by means of a Windlass, not shown, may be displaced from an inactive rear position shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 to a fore position shown in FIGS. 3 and 5 where they are located on the opposite side of the platform and thereby produce a moment counteracting the moment excited by the mast. The moment arm of the counterweights in the last-mentioned position may be greater than the moment arm of the mast.

The mast part 26 is at its lower end provided with two pins 51 which when the mast during elevation comes near the vertical position fit into bearings 52 on the vehicle or the platform 24 which bearings 52 are provided with slots 54 to permit the passage of the pins. The bearings 52 consist of bushings adapted for cooperation with a latch member 60 which upon introduction of the pins 51 into the bearings are turned by 180, the pins 51 then being locked on all sides in the same manner as the pins 30. Thereby the position of the mast is fixed on all sides relatively to the vehicle. The pins 30 are suitably located on the rear edge of the mast part 26 and the pins 51 approximately at the middle plane of the mast.

The mast part 28 is then hoisted up out of the mast part 26 in a manner known per se. The jib 38 is lifted from a vertically depending position upwards by means of cables 62 passing over the free end of the minor arm 40 and extending to the free end of the jib. 38. The cables 62 cooperate with cable 64 operated from the vehicle by means of a Windlass (not shown) driven by the engine so that the jib 38 may be given any desired angular position relative to the horizontal plane. A load hook 66 is attached to a cable 68 operated from the vehicle by means of an engine-driven Windlass (not shown) for vention has been shown and described, it is to be understood that this is for purpose of illustration only, and that the invention is not to be limited thereby,'but its scope is to be determined by the appended claim. 1

What I claim is: Z. I r A mobile crane comprising a vehicle, a mast, a pair of I combined locking and pivot pins fixed to said mastadjacentone end, a second pair of combined locking and pivot guide bracket 70 which projects from the arm 40 on the side opposite the jib 38 and in the lowered position of the jib 38 the cable 62 engages the bracket 70 in order to provide a lever arm for causing initial movement of the jib 38. from lowered position upon exerting a pull on cable According to the invention, the hoisting crane may also be used without the jib 38 when particularly heavy objects are to be hoisted. In such a case the jib 38 togetherwith' the arm 40 is removed from themast 28 when this latter W rests in a lowered position on the lorry according to FIG.

1. The cables 62 are secured to the mast part 28, for

example about a pin 62 (FIG. 1),. Thereupon the mastv is raised in thesame manner as described above. After member 36 is turned by 180 so as to release the upper pins 30. The mastcan now be pivoted about the lower FIG. 5 which positions the upper part outwardly of the vehicle. Thereby a spaceis obtained for the lifting of objects by means of the cable ofthe load hook 66 running over the upper end of. themast instead of the jib 38.

The mast may be pivotedrearwardly down to approximately horizontal position over the ground. The cable system 64 is then preferably brought to cooperate at the base with a support device 72 which is tiltable about a horizontal axis provided on the vehicle or its platform 24 and which when the mast is turned rearwards forms an upstanding level arm enabling the cables 62, 64 to act on a sufficiently great moment arm for raising the mast 'from the horizontal position over the ground to any desired elevated angular position up to thevertical.

While one more or less specific embodiment of the inpins'fixed to said mastat a location longitudinally spaced from said first pins,ia mast'supp'orting structure on said vehicle, a pair of bearings'on said structure for 'pivotally receiving said first ,pins, said bearings having transverse slots to permit movement of said first pins into and out of said bearings, latch means for releasably retaining said first pins in said bearings, a second pair of bearings on said structure disposedto pivotally receive said second pins, said second bearings having transverse slots to permit movement of said second pins into and out of said second bearings, second latch means for releasably retaining said second pins in said second bearings, cable means for pivotally moving said mast about the axis of said second bearings'from a horizontal inoperative positionto a vertical operative position wherein said first pins are received and latched in said first bearings, and second cable means for pivotally moving said mast about the axis of said first bearings to inclinedoperative positions with said second pins released. from said second, bearings, whereby said mast may be positively latched at longitudinally spaced points in vertical operative position and upon releaseof said second latch means is pivotally movable to inclined operative positions.

:References Cited by the Examiner SAMUEL F. COLEMAN, Primary Examiner. ANDRES H. NIELSEN, Examiner. 

